I'm expecting to attend a wedding in Australia (no formal invitation yet, but I think that I should start planning ahead).

I'm interested in going to Asia for a few days -- probably Taipei -- and a Japanese ciy or a Chinese city, if I can wing it. I was in Shanghai and Beijing last December, and I was in Tokyo in December 2001.

Also I'm interested in going to Europe. I've travelled in Europe fairly extensively.

I'm thinking of taking two weeks off. I travel at a fast pace (I've done a few weekeend/long weekend trips to Europe).

What is the most economical way to arrange for a trip like this? Would this be good with a round-the-world ticket? Airline miles if clever stopovers? I don't know if I have enough miles -- I've over 100,000 at AA and at Delta.

I've never been to S. America. If a routing allows for this, it'd be nice to throw that in.

Anyway, I'd appreciate a few pointers to help me think about the trip. Thanks!

The wedding is scheduled for the first week of January 2007.

Get some ideas on www.airtrecks.com. I've been able to get an around the world for around $3,100.

With frequent flyer miles with AA you could look at their One World Award - you have to dig a little to find the info on their website. I've used it twice - you have to fly three airlines, and can only have one "open" or land leg.

Thanks wally. I think the price was more like $3800 for my itinerary and dates. I didn't check prices for a ticket to Australia alone yet.

Any idea how many miles one would need, thursday?

Thanks.

BTW, that is www.airtreks.com.

Thanks. Somehow I got to the right link -- not sure how. Maybe I subconsciously typed the right spelling in or something.

111op - the number of FF miles depends on the number of actual flying miles, and the class. I flew around 18,000 miles for 130,000 FF miles in business class - it would have been 90,000 in economy. This http://tinyurl.com/pqnsy should get you to the aa.com page with the relevant table.

Thanks. It's been so long since I claimed an FF award that I didn't realize they have revamped the entire system!

111op - the old system still exists as well. There are special rules for the One World Award - it took me a LONG time on the phone sorting out what I could and couldn't do the last time I used one. Using multiple airlines is the most obvious difference, but there are others, and the fine print looks like it's been updated since I did this last.

Some of the advice above was right on, but some was way off.

AA OneWorld award has 2 basic but very important rules:

1. You will need 2 (not 3) OneWorld partners, and AA does not count nor is it needed. You can't fly BA US-UK.

2. The distances are measured between stop points only. For example, if you wanted to visit BKK from LAX but needed to CONNECT ONLY in HKG, the straight line between LAX-BKK counts, not LAX-HKG-BKK.

There are few minor rules but with the 2 above you're pretty much covered.


I have been doing OW awards for myself for few years now, saving miles and getting multiple trips out of each award, so if you want to post a general routing, I will try to help you.

Thanks. I really don't have any experience with this sort of thing.

Is it too late to do this for January 2007? Will claiming an award be a better deal than paying for the tickets?

The wedding is near Adelaide in Australia. I've never been to Australia, so I should probably fly to Sydney?

Ideally I'd like to be in Taipei also.

If possible, also in Paris. But since I've travelled in Europe pretty extensively, I'm happy to travel to S America instead -- where I've never been.

Obviously I'd like to get the most out of any ticket I end up getting. I'm flexible -- but Australia will be a must for the wedding.

Thanks!

ok, before I start I need to ask you few more questions:

1. do you want to do the entire trip at once, or do you want to spread it out? i.e. Australia in Jan, Taipei in May and Europe in September? It is possible, but it probably will cost more in $ and miles, but still acceptable in most cases. The award allows travel within a year of the initial flight. The award also allows date changes without fees once ticketed, but there will be a fee for change of carriers or routing once ticketed.

2. you do need to tell me specific cities, and Adeline is very possible within the award. Taipei, and then (Europe or SA?) and which city, cities you want to fly into and stop? Think about it and give me specific cities you want to fly into, stop, and fly out of. I don't need dates.

3. to save miles, would you be willing to fly into let's say London and fly on your own dollar around Europe (if that's your choice)?

4. Where would you be flying out of?

Please, I need specific answers to the questions above before I can proceed, so answer each question individually and concentrate on each question ONLY when answering.

Wow. Thanks for being my travel agent, AA.

#1. I prefer to do this trip all at once. It's always hard to predict what will happen too far into the future.

#2. The wedding is in Adelaide, but I'll probably want to see Sydney. I can fly to one and figure my way around between the two.

Asia: I'd like to be in Taipei.

Re Europe: I've been to most of the cities. Probably Paris again, if that works. I'd be happy to see Poland, say, but I think that it will be too complicated.

I'd also consider Istanbul -- it's on my list and I've never been.

S. America: I've not been to this continent at all. Probably Buenos Aires or Rio -- basically whatever is convenient.

I only have about two weeks, but as I mentioned, I'm the sort who can fit in multiple destinations in a short trip.

#3. Yes, I can fly to London and take a budget airline -- or a train.

#4. I leave from NYC.

I think that Australia would have to be in the middle of the itinerary. I think that wedding is on a Friday, and I'll probably take two weeks off, as I mentioned -- so I don't think that it can be at the beginning. And I'm thinking that I'll take my time off in such a way that that's near the end of the first week. I guess if necessary I can probably make Australia the last part of the trip and fly home from there, but that'd not be ideal.

Anyway, obviously I'd love to squeeze in as much as is humanly possible -- and to maximize my miles usage. I can be flexible for parts of the itinerary (as above).

Thanks very much, AA!

I got the price down to about $2,600 on www.airtreks.com by flying from Miami to London to Bangkok, Sydney, Hong Kong, San Francisco and back to Miami.

sorry, I was busy last night and all of today....SE Asia............


anyways, tonight I will try to figure out what's the best mileage award for you....

Thanks -- it's really no rush, AA!

AA's OneWorld award will not work for you. Anyway I tried to slice it and dice it, it just doesn't work, unless.....

You are willing to fly R/T NYC-LAX on your own dime and then I can show you how to get to Australia and Taiwan for 100K miles plus taxes and fees in economy (assuming there is availibility).

A regular All Partner award ticket from NYC-Adelaide will be 75K miles for economy ticket. You can have a stop over in 1 gateway city in US or Australia, so a stop in LA, Sydney or some other city is possible, but not both and definately not Taiwan or SA/Europe. Again, availibility is needed.

Thanks. I can fly to LA on my own expenses if the net financial outcome is better. I've not checked prices for a ticket to Australia yet.

I just have enough to spend 130,000 miles, so business class is also possible, if that makes things easier.

that changes things somewhat:

AA OneWorld economy award is possible with 120K miles or if you are willing to "purchase" 20K more miles, a business class ticket is possible for 150K miles.

The routing:

JFK-EZE(Buenos Aires) - probably AA

EZE-ADL(Adelaide) - probably LAN to SYD (connecting in SCL) and QF to ADL

ADL-TPE(Taipei) - QF to SYD and then QF or CX to HKG connecting to CX to TPE

TPE-JFK - CX to HKG connecting to either JFK and if not available then LAX or SFO and connect to AA for the final trip home.

I'm not sure you would want to do more than that if you only have 2 weeks...